Final Stats HOUMA, La. – Leading by as many as 23 points in the second half, the Nicholls State University women's basketball game against the Florida A&M Rattlers stayed competitive as FAMU began to get hot from three point line. Eventually, the Colonels wore down the Rattlers and the lead would be too much to overcome as Nicholls defeated FAMU 77-69 Friday night at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.

Nicholls (3-5) and the Rattlers (3-5) lived from behind the arc, combining for 18 3-pointers on the night, but Nicholls, behind the play of Jenny Nash who had six in the game, made eight of their attempts and finished with a 40-percent clip on the night.

Alisha Allen led the Colonels with 21 points, followed by Nash who finished with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Allen has scored at least 20 points in the last three-straight games, while Nash follows up an 18-point performance against Weber State with the first 20-point game of her career.

With a 12-point lead at the half, the Colonels went on a 10-2 run to start the final period to go up 51-31, and had their largest lead of the game of 23 points with 12:43 left, but FAMU, who only had three 3-pointers on the night, hit seven in the second half to keep things close.

The Colonels finished the night shooting 52-percent from the field and 40-percent from 3-point land, while scoring 20 points off of 14 FAMU turnovers.

The Colonels jumped out to a 5-0 lead after nearly 2:30 of play in the first half thanks to a Babin layup and Leslie 3-pointer. The Rattlers came back and tied the game at 7-7 outscoring Nicholls 5-2 over the next 1:30.

But the Colonels 60-percent shooting in the first half came into focus soon after, as Nicholls rattled off the next ten points to go up 17-7 with a little more than 12 minutes remaining in the half. The Colonels maintained their lead, never letting the Rattlers get closer than seven points for the remainder of the period, and went up by as many as 17 points at 34-17 using an 8-0 run with 4:52 remaining.

A 41-29 lead heading into the half was due in part to three players in double figures for Nicholls behind the hot shooting of Nash, Allen and Leslie, who combined for 33 points on 14-of-22 shooting. Babin had the three other field goals for Nicholls in the half, as Nash hit three 3-pointers in the half alone.

Although it seemed as if the Rattlers would use their size and speed to overpower the Colonels, Nicholls outscored FAMU on points in the paint, 16-8, and scored six points off of fast breaks. Nicholls finished scoring 28 points in the lane and 12 points off of second chance opportunities.

Antonia Bennett led all scorers with 23 points on the night for FAMU, going 10-for-22 from the field and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc.

The Colonels will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 11 when they head to Texas State. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.